An Analysis and Evaluation of Practical Investigative Assessment
Works Cited Missing
Introduction
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What you test is what you get. In the quest for accountability using
the tool of assessment inevitably results in a tailoring of teaching
to the required assessment. The pressure is on to teach the skills
that can be counted and reported, but just how useful are these
skills? Assessment in school science as with other subjects can take
many forms from oral questioning to the marking of exercises set for
homework or short written tests of knowledge. Most often we think of
assessment in the context of public examinations such as the GCSE and
the A-Level. Much of the media attention and political commentary
places enormous faith in the ability of examination systems to give
absolute answers. Indeed educationalists have identified government
policy as that of an "empty commitment" (Black and William page5,
1998). Whilst the TGAT have publicly emphasised the importance of
formative assessment the reality is that resources and political
policy is clearly focused on the external testing of teachers and
schools. Undoubtedly the national curriculum has increased the amount
of testing. In the UK students are compulsorily examined at four
points during their school career at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16. Summative
assessment does have a role in so much that it can provide information
for parents and employers that can indicate the overall achievement of
pupils over a period of time. However it does not help the teacher of
a pupil identify areas of difficulty early enough to correct them. The
end of a topic test does not leave room to help the failed child to
learn better. If the majority of assessment is seen to consist of
testing low level skills and fact based knowledge, this is the
diminishing of education to training students to perform certain
prescribed behaviours, emphasis on outcomes rather than processes,
encouraging the passive nature of learning and elevating the trivial
observable short term behaviours over enriching, high order, creative,
open ended, lifelong aspects of education.